Aramco gets nod to build Jazan refinery

By OGJ editors HOUSTON, Jan. 20 -- Saudi Aramco was tapped to build and finance the $10 billion Jazan refinery. Its capacity will be 250,000-400,000 b/d, said Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi.

Bidding by 8 Saudi firms and 42 international companies that concluded last year.

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud approved the project in 2006 as part of a wider development plan for the southern province, but bidding had been delayed as the country tried to generate foreign company interest in the project.

A project fully built and owned by private companies had been a goal, but potential investors expressed concerns the distance of the planned refinery from its supply fields would undermine the plant’s economics.